This course is a short taster on the topic of the use of Images, Film, and their use in historical interpretation in the 20th century. It is primarily provided for those who have a general interest in history that draws on photojournalism as primary evidence, and films based on historical events.
Once you have completed this course we hope you will be equipped to:
Appreciate the significance of photographs as historical evidence in the twentieth century.
Understand the limitations of the medium, and how we can attribute meaning to these individual records of 'one moment in time' while taking into account the circumstances in which any particular image was taken.
Understand how individuals and institutions have looked to manipulate images to their own ends – through alteration and/or censorship – and what that meant to contemporary interpretation, as well as subsequent historical interpretation.
Put individual images into a wider context, and in particular with reference to history written, or portrayed, beyond academia: public history.
Do be aware that part of the contents of this course regard images and depiction of war. Real wars and real images.

Taught By

Dr Emmett Sullivan

Senior Tutor

Transcript

[MUSIC]. To round up for today's topic. I've used the phrase, the camera never lies repeatedly. For the title of the course. And I'm sure by the end of it, you'll be fairly fed up with me saying it yet once more. Nevertheless, here we have an issue. the most notorious issue in the history of falsification of images about why Stalin would go to these lengths to preserve the facade of a, his primacy during the Lenin period. So, that historically he appeared to be the natural successor to Lenin after his death. And secondly, how he wanted to appear, if not infallible then certainly not to be associated by those who had proved to be fallible. And no longer were in keeping with the party line as they, it went through. Now, the point I've raised earlier in this particular seminar is, it must have been obvious to the Soviet public. And my opening comments suggest that this was widely known. Nevertheless, could you show dissent? Could you actually openly comment on this in, in Stalinist Soviet society? Not in public. there are instances. And again, I refer back to Dr. Waterlow's seminar, which you can listen to the podcast on this site of people two or three years after the event being prosecuted for treason liable for disloyalty to the party. For cracking jokes at the expense of the Soviet hierarchy. my initial thought in hearing that seminar perhaps it was the NKDV who couldn't take the joke. But it gives you an idea of the level of paranoia and necessary self censorship for those people to negotiate what was happening during the Stalinist era. Now, just to roundup of a, a couple of web pages, which you'll find on the site. once in the Guardian, it's from Decenber 2010. And it's referring to the fact that Russia has not perhaps sufficiently airbrushed out Stalin from their records. So, the phrase airbrushing out of history, is still current, and here is actually applied back. But, I've mentioned a little bit earlier about the rehabilitation of Stalin and something that, that National Public Radio referenced in 2009. That in fact, Stalins' grandson prompted by another zealot sued for defamation. on the argument that Stalin was not responsible for the deaths and the killings within the Soviet Union under his rule. Now, I do take it as being something of not a farce but it shows a measure to, which the point I made before, the need for the strong leaders, of the past to be respected. That whether Stalin was directly responsible for the death, whether he gave orders or not? It happened on his watch. Now, I think we are reasonably convinced from the historical records that Stalin was well aware of the implications of his decrees etc. Yet, we have a court case, again, trying to change the way that perceptions work. So, one way or the other, Joseph Stalin's legacy seems to be going through a transformtion in modern Russia. Just in the same way that he tried to change his perception during his own lifetime and his own leadership of the USSR.

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